There are many types of granulated materials that are spread over land to serve different purposes. For instance, granulated fire ant killer may be distributed across a person's lawn, in order to kill fire ants, and prevent them from returning or establishing future ant colonies on the property, and granulated fertilizers are spread out to help grass grow. Various types of machinery have been developed over the years, to evenly distribute the granular material over fields, yards, and other types of property parcels.
One issue that is prevalent among many of these broadcast spreaders is that they do not spread the proper dosage of granular material over the land, in accordance with the instructions for the different granular materials. In some cases, the granule sizes vary widely within an individual package, which causes distribution problems with some of these spreaders, because if the opening on the spreader is wide enough to allow the largest particles to pass through, much more of the smaller particulate passes through the opening than is necessary or called for in the instructions.
Examples of such assemblies that have been developed for this purpose are set forth below, and each of the following references are hereby incorporated herein by reference:
U.S. Pat. No. 3,738,546 Metering Device for Securement to the Hopper or Container of a Distributor of Seeds and Other Fluent Material
A device which can be secured to the hopper or container of a seed or other fluent material distributor and which serves to regulate the amount of seed or other material which passes from the container to the spreader or broadcaster of the distributor. The metering device includes a mounting plate which is securable to the bottom wall of the fluent material container and which has a discharge opening formed therein. A shiftable door plate is carried by the mounting plate and can be made to selectively cover a portion of the discharge opening in the mounting plate and thus regulate the effective area of the discharge opening.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,588,133 Combined Chute and Variable Rate Control Assembly for a Broadcast Spreader
Improved control over the distribution pattern and the amount of fertilizer, grass seed or the like dispensed by a broadcast spreader is accomplished by mounting a variable rate control device in a material directing chute secured below a basin wall of a hopper. A web or ramp portion of the chute is spaced below a discharge port in the hopper, and the rate control device is rotatably mounted in a housing formed in the rear of the chute to engage a shutter that is slidably mounted under the discharge port.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,820,035 Broadcast Spreader Mechanism
An improved feed distribution and closure mechanism for use with broadcast spreaders for spreading granular or powdery material or both is described. The mechanism comprises a threaded shaft, a disk mounted on the shaft having a central opening provided with internal threads mating with the shaft, a return spring, and a collar or the like on the shaft to stop travel of the disk on the shaft. Materials which may be spread using spreaders equipped with the mechanism include, without limitation, sand and/or salt on roads; materials such as herbicides, pesticides, fertilizer, lime and seeds such as grass seed on fields, lawns, golf courses and the like; and most particularly, feed for both domesticated and game animals and birds.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,047,909 Hopper Discharge and Pattern Controlling Apparatus for a Broadcast Spreader
A choke plate or damper is removably mounted in the bottom of the broadcast spreader hopper. The choke plate is formed with three apertures, each of which is surrounded by a boss which, with the choke plate in an operative position, projects through a material discharge outlet in the hopper bottom for sliding engagement with a shutter plate slidably mounted on a rear underside portion of the hopper. A deflector is slidably mounted on a forward underside portion of the hopper and is formed with a rearwardly projecting and downwardly inclined portion that, as the deflector is adjusted, moves between positions of greater and lesser interposition between the hopper outlet and a rotary impeller disposed therebelow.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,907,832 Granular Material Spreader Attachment for Mower or Other Apparatus
A granular material spreader for a mower other a apparatus including a support column, having a support plate attached to its bottom, for supporting the spreader thereon, the spreader being mounted to the shaft of the motor which when energized turns the spreader for usage. A bracket attaching to the support column supports the hopper, for holding granular material, the bottom of the hopper including a series of apertures, and a control plate, to regulate the dispensing and spreading of granular material. A pivot lever energized to a solenoid initiates the dispensing, or containment, of spreading of granular material. The control plate includes an adjustment further regulating the amount of granular material dispensed from the hopper.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,893,654 Rotary Feed Dispensing Apparatus
A rotary feed dispensing apparatus includes a reservoir configured to hold feed. The apparatus includes a rotary dispenser having an inlet operatively coupled to the reservoir and a rotary dispenser outlet, the rotary dispenser defining a rotary dispenser interior area configured to selectively receive the feed from the reservoir through the rotary housing inlet. An impellor assembly is rotatably mounted in the rotary dispenser, the impellor assembly having an impellor body portion and at least one impellor end portion pivotally coupled to the impellor body portion. The impellor end portion is movable between an extended configuration and a folded configuration. A motor is operatively coupled to the impellor assembly and configured to rotate the impellor assembly when energized. The impellor end portion is configured to eject the feed from the rotary dispenser through the outlet when the motor is energized and the impellor end portion is at the extended configuration.
U.S. Application No. 20070194155 Broadcast Spreader with Rate Control System
A rate control system for a material spreader for maintaining a uniform dispersal or spreading of material such as fertilizer or similar material. The rate control system works with a spreader having a moveable control gate positioned at the hopper output orifice. The control system moves the spreader control gate between a closed position and an adjustably open position. The degree that the control gate is opened is controlled by a linear actuator that operates in one direction to contact a first limit switch, defining the closed position, and operates in the other direction to contact a second limit switch, with the point at which the second limit switch is contacted being adjustable.
Each of the above-referenced devices and assemblies has disadvantages, one of which is that it has been difficult to provide a spreader that can administer the proper dosage of granular material to a particular area of land. Additionally, because these dosages vary widely among different types of materials, it would be advantageous for a user to be able to adjust the dosage and rate of distribution for these granular materials, in accordance with the specific instructions for each type of granulated material. Further, it would be desirable to for a user to be able to make the dosage rate adjustments via computer software or an “app” on a mobile device, such as a smart phone, tablet, or the like.